Tu Xiao’an smiled and glanced at a table in the room. His eyes narrowed, and the table was suddenly laden with a dazzling array of what were clearly first-rate Spirit Fruits.
The appearance of the Spirit Fruits instantly filled the modest room with an incomparably dense Spiritual Qi, making anyone inside feel refreshed and invigorating their spirits.
"This..." Xiaoyue was stunned once more. She stared at the fruits on the table, the likes of which she’d never seen. Each one shimmered with a radiant glow and emitted a unique fragrance, just like something from the Queen Mother of the West’s banquet of Peaches of Immortality.
"Don’t just stare, Sis. Go on, eat. They’re delicious." Having trained in the Yaoling Mountain Range, Tu Xiao’an was no longer the person he used to be. He had plundered all these Spirit Fruits from the White Demon King’s medicinal garden.
’The Human World is in such chaos right now, and the global situation has become so unpredictable. It might be a good idea to bring Mom and Sis to live in the Snake Palace.’
’They could live in comfort there. Besides, the Snake Palace is the main bastion of the Snake Race. With experts as common as clouds, I wouldn’t have to worry about their safety.’
’If Mom and Sis went to the Snake Palace, they’d be the Empress Dowager and a Princess. Now *that* would be living the good life.’
’Besides, the Snake Race’s Snake Palace is in no way inferior to the Imperial Palaces of old. The environment is just incredible, and there would be plenty of people to wait on them. I wouldn’t have a single worry in the world.’
’But for now, I need to take care of things in Bai Town first.’
"Sis, eat up. After you’re done, get some sleep. No matter what happens outside, don’t leave this room."
Xiaoyue asked, "Little brother, where are you going?"
"I think those monsters will be back. I have a duty to protect our home."
’One can’t forget their roots. Even though I’m a Snake now, Bai Town is still the home that birthed and raised me. So many people live here, and many of them are distant relatives of my family. How could I just stand by and do nothing?’
’I am the Snake King of Bai Town.’
"Little brother, be careful. I know you’re not an ordinary person anymore, but you have to remember that your own safety comes first."
"Don’t worry, Sis. You have no idea how much of a badass your little brother has become."
"You’re so shameless." Tu Xiaoyue shot him a playful glare. Although her brother was bragging, it did make her feel a little more at ease.
"Oh, right!" Tu Xiao’an was about to leave the room, but he paused. With a single thought, a woman as beautiful as a flower—breathtakingly so—appeared in the room.
It was none other than the Baihua Fairy.
This lily Great Demon had now been thoroughly tamed by Tu Xiao’an.
"You will stay in this room and serve my mother and sister well. Obey their every command," Tu Xiao’an said lightly, looking at the Baihua Fairy.
The Baihua Fairy felt wronged. ’He’s really treating me, a dignified Deep Mountain Great Demon, like a Maid.’
’And I’m supposed to serve two ordinary humans?’
’And "mother" and "sister"? You’re a Snake, and they’re both human. Does he think I’m blind?’
"If you don’t do this job well, I’ll marry you off to Charlie. You two can be a tree-and-flower combination."
At these words, the Baihua Fairy’s face instantly went pale with fright. "This servant obeys! I will be sure to serve them with the utmost care."
"Little brother, what is going on? This woman is as beautiful as a flower... and you want her to serve Mom and me? We couldn’t possibly accept that."
Just how beautiful was the Baihua Fairy? In Tu Xiaoyue’s words, all the A-list actresses looked like ugly ducklings next to her.
"Sis, I already told you. From now on, you and Mom are just going to enjoy life. Do you know what that means? This is nothing. In a few days, I’ll take you to live in an Imperial Palace."
At the level he was now, it was truly difficult to explain everything to his sister.
’Besides, having his subjugated Battle Companion serve his mother and sister was only natural.’
’He had taken in the Baihua Fairy with the intention of making her a Maid from the start.’
Tu Xiao’an gave his sister a few more instructions before leaving the room. Leaving the Baihua Fairy to stand guard—with this Deep Mountain Great Demon as a personal bodyguard—would be much safer.
Afterward, Tu Xiao’an stood in the hallway outside the door. Looking out, he could see the ruins and rubble scattered across Bai Town—the scars left by the Fierce Beast Taotie’s "baptism." The once-prosperous ancient town was now riddled with wounds.
The War Relics had opened, and the Fierce Beast Era had arrived. A gloomy expression slowly crept over Tu Xiao’an’s face.
’After protecting my own family, it’s time to protect my greater family: Bai Town.’
Just then... RUMBLE... RUMBLE... RUMBLE!
In an instant, it was as if the very sky over Bai Town was about to collapse. A terrifying sense of invasion swept in from the distance with the force of an avalanche, and the entire ground began to tremble violently, as if in the throes of an earthquake.
Hmm?
Tu Xiao’an’s gaze swept over, his face a mask of astonishment. The outskirts of Bai Town looked like a scene from a prehistoric era. A hundred or so enormous Taotie clones had suddenly appeared, each one hundreds of feet tall, like walking skyscrapers or moving mountains.
The scene was terrifying beyond description.
With every crazed roar, they destroyed everything in their path. Before the Fierce Beast Taotie, the buildings were like paper, collapsing at the slightest touch.
A full-blown Fierce Beast assault on the town had begun.
The violent commotion in Bai Town terrified the people in the Snake King Temple. They walked to the front of the temple one by one and looked up. All of them stood frozen, their faces deathly pale, feeling cold sweat trickle down their spines.
Before, there had been one terrifying monster. Now, a hundred had appeared at once. What did that even mean? Just a few of them had brought Bai Town to the brink of annihilation. A hundred of them... the sheer terror was enough to kill a person.
"It’s over... we’re finished. My life is over."
"Bai Town is done for! We’re done for! We’re all going to be eaten by those giant monsters!"
The people of Bai Town cried out in heart-wrenching despair, as if they had suddenly plunged into the Hell Abyss. They looked up only to find themselves shrouded in darkness, without a single ray of hope in sight.
They were terrified, and there was no escape.
In this peaceful, atheistic age, people could never have imagined that Fierce Beasts more terrifying than dinosaurs could actually exist—beasts so strong that even modern weaponry was useless against them.
The weak are prey for the strong, and only the fittest survive!
The law of the jungle had descended upon human society once more, leaving ordinary people with no choice but to wait for death.
The Demon Management Bureau had replaced the Public Security Bureau as the core institution for maintaining social order, and many powerful human Awakened Cultivators had risen as world-saving heroes.
But the small, ancient town of Bai Town had clearly been abandoned. It wasn’t important enough to attract the attention of the Demon Management Bureau, and there were no Awakened Cultivators here.
Their chances of surviving the Fierce Beasts’ slaughter were less than one percent.
The earth shook violently, swaying back and forth. The townspeople’s bodies went rigid as stone, and their hearts sank into the abyss.
"We beg Lord Snake King to come out and vanquish these demons, to save the people of Bai Town!"
A respected elder, Lin Defeng, cried out. Trembling, he rushed before the statue of the Snake King and fell to his knees.
With a hundred Fierce Beasts attacking, the thousand-year-old town of Bai Town was on the brink of destruction. Who could save them? Only the Snake King, in whom they had always placed their faith.
If the Snake King did not appear now, Bai Town would surely be turned into a river of blood, its people utterly devastated.